A Typical Friday Night
by mooncroww
Summary: Sometimes it pays to be a good friend.


A/N This has been sitting on my laptop, unfinished, for a good long time. While writing on Greater Things today I decided to finish it. I'd say it happens before Patch of Grass. Enjoy.

"Should we wake him?" Sirius asked sleepily.

I yawned and leaned heavily against him, "Not yet."

"It's going to be light soon. We really should get him back before everyone wakes up."

"Give him a little more time."

With a sigh, my friend nodded and slumped lower against the wall, stretching his long legs out in front of him. I however, kept my knees pulled tight to my chest in an effort to fight off the chill morning air. The shack's poor condition did nothing to keep out the cold.

"Maybe we should have brought a blanket with us." Sirius said.

"Remember for next month. I'm cold."

"Not for us, for Remus."

I followed his gaze to where our friend lay nude on the rough wooden floor. It was custom now to strip before changing shape, there was less chance of ruined clothing. While Sirius, Peter and I immediately dressed when we took human form, Remus tended to fall asleep where he was. Thankfully, this morning, he was facing away.

"He does look a little cold." I agreed, chuckling as the sleeping boy's foot twitched, "He's chasing rabbits."

"He does that every night." Sirius replied.

"I've never noticed."

"You don't sleep in the bed next to his, do you. He growls and snuffles about all night long."

"That's the wolf in him." I grinned.

"You know," He said thoughtfully, "If I had a dog I'd name it Snuffles."

"You could have called yourself Snuffles." I poked him in the ribs.

"Yes, but then I couldn't call for him. 'Here Snuffles, here boy. Come see the lovely French Poodle I bought for you.' I've never had a taste for foreign women myself."

"That's disgusting."

"What?" Sirius asked, feigning shock.

"I thought wizards of your social standing had better manners."

"You should meet the rest of my family." A roguish grin spread across his face.

"After hearing you talk about them, I'd rather not. Though, Bellatrix does seem intriguing…"

"She's loony, James. Don't even joke about that." His smile was gone, replaced by a strange distant look.

I let the subject drop and gave him a few moments to sort out his thoughts.

"I got an owl from my mum today." I said quietly.

"Really?"

"She says you can stay with us this summer, if you like."

He gave me a sidelong look, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"Company, like Doxie droppings, begin to stink after a few days."

"You already stink. Besides, Mum is crazy about you."

He snickered, "Yeah?"

"She's always asking about you."

"I'd best be sure to lock the bathroom door, wouldn't want her "accidentally" walking in."

I blinked, "That's just… wrong."

"Face it, your mum has, like all women, succumbed to the legendary Sirius Black charm."

"You really are totally depraved."

He yawned, "One of the many reasons you love me."

My witty remark was halted by Remus waking up. He stretched a little and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"How're you feeing there, Moony." Sirius asked.

He didn't respond right away.

"Was quite an adventure last night, huh?" I posed the next question.

"I'm dying." He groaned and ran a shaking hand through his hair.

Though he still faced away, I could tell from his voice that the cold had left his muscles aching.

"You're not dying." I assured him.

"My stomach…" He began getting to his feet, only to stumble from the room as quickly as he could.

I winced at the sound of him retching in the other room.

"That would be the squirrel you ate." Sirius said with a smirk.

"We tried to stop you." I added.

"But you'd skipped dinner."

"And who were we to stop a starving werewolf from enjoying a light snack?"

"I hate you both." He called hoarsely.

"Stop trying to sweet talk me, Remus." Sirius grinned and clambered to his feet.

"Come on, lets get some clothes on you." I also stood and began searching for my friend's discarded clothing.

"Where's Peter?" Remus swallowed hard and allowed Sirius and I to help him with his shirt.

"I don't know… haven't seen him since last night, come to think of it." Sirius winked at me.

"Did he… where would he go?" Remus seemed worried, despite struggling to put his under things on.

"Oh no!" Sirius gasped.

"What!"

"That must not have been a squirrel you ate!"

Remus stumbled backwards and fell to the floor with a heavy thud that shook the walls. I glared at Sirius and went to help him up. "He's only kidding." I said helping him button his trousers as his frozen fingers refused to grip the zipper.

"What…"

"Peter has a bad cold. He complained so loudly and coughed so much that we sent him back." I explained.

"You should have seen your face." Sirius laughed and reached down to help his fallen friend.

"Wasn't funny!" Remus growled and jerked Sirius down to the floor.

"Hey… it was only a joke."

I rolled my eyes and helped our werewolf balance as he once again stood up.

"Thought I'd eaten my friend." He grumbled to me and shot Sirius a scathing look.

"We'll get you into bed and you'll forget all about it." I promised looping one of his arms over my shoulders.

"I'm sorry." All humor has left Sirius' face, he followed us solemnly.

"Let me alone." Remus mumbled.

The trip through the tunnel was slow but uneventful. It was not until we were trudging through several feet of snow that I realized we had forgotten Remus' shoes. His feet were turning an awful shade of blue and he could not stop his teeth from chattering.

"We'll go back and get them later, I promise. The quicker we get in, the quicker you get warm." I said, pulling him onward.

"I can go back and get them." Sirius suggested.

"No. Not now. I can't get him up those stairs alone."

Remus only nodded.

The sun had not completely risen yet, and the halls were blessedly empty. With a great deal of effort we managed to drag our friend up several flights of stairs, barely missing the trick step when one of us stumbled. At last we stood in front of the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower. The rest was easy.

"Murtlap." I said when the Fat Lady noticed us at last.

"Poor thing." She muttered as we pushed our nearly unconscious friend through the hole and into the common room.

"What on Earth happened to him?" A voice asked.

I cringed a little. "Flu. Needs rest."

Lily Evans sat in one of the biggest armchairs looking shocked. A book lay open on her lap and one side of her face was lined with red as though she had fallen asleep with her head on the pages.

"He's all blue… have you been outside?"

"No."

"You've got snow in your hair."

"Whatever, would you just leave us alone?"

She stared a moment longer, then asked, "Can I help?"

My mouth opened to tell her no, but stopped. Just looking at her made my stomach clench up with a strange sort of joy.

"Come on… you go up and open the door for us." I instructed.

She nodded and hurried up the steps.

"You're going to have to tell her something, mate." Sirius whispered.

"I'll take care of it."

With some difficulty we hauled Remus up the last flight of stairs and through the now open door to the dormitory. Lily followed us in and pulled the covers on his bed back and let him slid gratefully in between them.

"Thank you." I said, tucking the blankets around his shivering form.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked again.

"He's sick." Sirius interjected. "Really sick."

"Then he should go to the infirmary."

"No. He's fine here. This is better." I said.

"If he's sick then he should go, I can go get a teacher to help."

"NO." I said firmly. "This is better."

"Just tell her." Remus mumbled, pulled the blankets over his head.

"Are you sure, Moony?"

"She won't tell." His voice was muffled, but I understood.

"Alright. If we tell you this, you have to promise to never breathe a word of it again. Not a word." I tried to make myself appear as dangerous as possible.

"Why not?"

"If it got around he'd be kicked out of school."

Her face changed and she nodded in solemn agreement.

"He's a werewolf."

"What?" Her shock was evident and I smirked in spite of myself.

"You heard me. Now you know and I expect it to remain a secret."

"For how long?" She asked.

"For forever, stupid." Sirius growled.

"No, how long has he been a werewolf." She shot a nasty look at Sirius.

"Since he was little. Dumbledore arranged for him to come to school. No one can know about this. Dumbledore would be in huge trouble and so would Remus."

"I… I won't tell. Of course."

"Now would you mind getting out of our room? We've got to go to sleep." I pointed to the door.

"Oh." She turned to leave.

"Remember, don't tell." I repeated.

Suddenly she spun around and kissed me square on the lips, "You're a very good friend James Potter."

She was gone before I came to my senses.

"Well, then. What a way to end the night." Sirius chuckled.

"Shut up." I grumbled and made my way to my bed.

"I mean… that was just, amazing. You've been hitting on her for years and she's always turned you down."

"I said, shut up."

"Then, you threaten her into keeping a dangerous secret and she kisses you."

"Shut…"

"Lets face it, LilyEvans likes it rough."

"Up!" I finished.

"You'd best get yourself a good pair of handcuffs and a whip or two, I think you'll be needing them." He continued with a grin.

"I swear, if I had more energy I'd…"

"You'd what?"

"I'd do something. You'd be in so much pain…"

"Go to sleep, both of you." Remus growled.

"Fine, but think about what you're getting yourself into." Sirius warned.

I pulled the covers over my head and did just that. What on Earth was I getting myself into?


End file.
